Some known location services enable a user to download an electronic map and browse the map to acquire the user's current location and geographic information of the surrounding environment. For example, a user can acquire information of at which street she is currently located through the current location identified in the electronic map. The user can also acquire information about markets and/or hotels surrounding her current location based on places identified on the electronic map. For another example, for a user sightseeing within a scenic area, locating and navigation in the scenic area can be achieved through loading an electronic map onto a mobile device of the user. The known location services, however, typically do not detect a current direction of a user, thus are not enabled to provide a more accurate navigation based on the user's current direction.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that can provide a location service that detects a user's direction and enables an accurate navigation based on the user's direction.